China Roses
by Lyrical.Laughter
Summary: Alexis finds out some shocking news (takes place about a year ago, when Emily was still in town and after she and Ned had broken up) Sonny/Alexis friendship and possibly Johnny/Alexis
1. One

She restlessly paced the room, every so often glancing at the table. "No, no, please be negative, please." She whispered over and over to herself. She looked over at the table where the test was. She took a deep breath much to terrified to look at the results. She kept pacing. By now the test would be clear, she would know if she was...pregnant. She could barely say the word.   
She thought about asking someone to just look at it for her, but then they would know that she thought she was...pregnant and that would not be good.  
"Just look at it, you're letting some silly little test get you worked up for no reason, it's negative, it has to be." She mumbled to herself. She looked back at the table and saw the brown paper bag that she would need if the test was positive. "Thank God for paper bags." She said out loud.  
She turned toward the table. One step...two...three. She slowly inched closer to the table. All of a sudden she heard the door shut and jumped. She turned around and saw her client Zander.  
"I-uh- thought you were with Emily?" she said looking over at the table in a panic.  
"Yeah, I forgot something. Are you okay? You look upset, has the DA dropped the deal or something?" he asked his alarm plainly showing on his face.  
"No, everything's fine. Have a good time with Emily and be back by curfew or face Sonny." "I will, Alexis, thank you again for everything you have done for me. You and Emily have so much faith in me and I haven't had that in a long time." He seemed to be thinking something over and then he spoke again. "You've been almost like a mother to me, I mean you let me stay in your penthouse, you make sure I eat, that I always wear my coat when I go outside." He laughed and then turned serious. "I know I can trust you and that means a lot to me. Thank you." He said as he awkwardly hugged her and then went upstairs.  
Alexis waited until he came back down. He was headed for the door and she stopped him. "Zander, I want to tell you that I have loved having you here and...your like a son to me." She stopped trying not to cry. "Well don't keep Emily waiting." She said lightly. He smiled and walked out the door. Alexis let out a long breath. It was the moment of truth she had to know for sure would she be a mother, was she carrying Ned's child. She took a long breath and walked over to the table. She averted her gaze from the pregnancy test and just looked out the window for a few minutes. She closed her eyes and when she opened them she was staring at a bright pink plus sign. 

"Oh my God! It's positive, this has to be wrong, it just has to be wrong." She said staring at it in disbelief. "This is all--a--horrible--nightmare." She said as it became harder to breathe. She grabbed the paper back and started breathing in and out. 'Thank God for paper bags' she thought again. After five minutes she calmed down. "Okay, this is no big deal...what am I saying of course this is a big deal, this is a gigantic deal. I am not equipped to take care of a child. Just look at me, I don't even really like children!" she said as she started to pace. "I should call Ned." She said as she picked up the phone, dialed three digits and then she hung up. "Of course I can't call Ned. I have to be calm." She said sitting on the sofa.   
"Chloe, yes I can go tell her." She said as she grabbed her coat and then put it back. "No, she's to close to Ned...Sonny, I can tell Sonny, he'll keep it a secret." She said as she straightened her blouse and walked across the hall to where Johnny stood.   
"Hello, Johnny, is Sonny here." He nodded so Alexis let herself inside. She averted her gaze when she saw that Carly was sitting on the ottoman buttoning her shirt back up and shooting daggers at her and Sonny was tucking his shirt back into his pants. "I didn't mean to disturb you---"   
"Well, guess what, you did," Said Carly none to nicely.   
"It's alright Alexis, what can I do for you?" asked Sonny standing up and walking towards her.   
"I was hoping we could talk in-in private," She replied nervously.   
"I know, 'Carly go upstairs so I can talk to my loony lawyer'," Imitated Carly as she stood up. "I'll be at Deception if you need me." She said as she walked by Alexis.   
"Bye," Said Sonny as he watched Carly leave, he then walked back over to the sofa and sat down. Alexis followed and sat down but then decided she should stand up. She paced as Sonny's dark eyes followed her.   
"I really don't know what I am going to do this time," Said Alexis throwing up her arms as she paced for another minute. "On second thought I think I should go back over to the Penthouse, tell Carly I'm sorry for interrupting."   
"No, no, no. What's the problem?" asked Sonny as he stood up, gently put his hands on her shoulders to stop her from leaving. Alexis started pacing again.  
"Did you have another fight with Ashton?" asked Sonny his eyes still following her.  
"This is really unprofessional, I'm your lawyer and you are my client.''   
''Come on, Alexis. We're friends, you can tell me and it won't leave this room,'' He said smiling and she looked at his gorgeous dimples.  
She hated how those eyes drew you in and made you actually WANT to tell the truth. ''I'm pregnant, there I said it. Can you believe this? I don't even know what Ned will think, actually I do know what he will think, he'll want us to get back together and be a happy family, I don't know if I want that. I have spent the last ten minutes breathing into a paper bag. I am not ready for this, I'm to old for this. How am I supposed to care for a baby?" asked Alexis exasperated.   
"Hey, you'll make it, you know Ashton won't abandon you and if he does, Johnny and I will have a little talk with him."   
Alexis smiled at his protectiveness toward her and then flat out laughed as she pictured Ned surrounded by an angry Sonny and Johnny. She looked over at Sonny who was smiling back at her.   
"Thanks, I needed a laugh."   
"No problem, you know that if you ever need to talk about Ashton or anything else, my door is always open."   
"I doubt Carly thinks the same way," answered Alexis dryly.   
"She just doesn't get along with women to well, I'm sure that if you really got to know her you two could be friends."   
"That's definitely something to think about. Well I should be going," said Alexis walking towards the door.   
"Alexis, don't hide this from Ashton, he deserves to know."   
Alexis just nodded and left. 


	2. Two

Authors note: I wrote this story a VERY long time ago and decided to post it for all of you, I am aware of the current storyline and I thought this would be fun for you to read. 

She went back over to her Penthouse and grabbed her coat. She walked the three blocks to Kelly's while trying to clear her head. A Cassadine-Quartermaine child, that was definitely not a good combination. She opened the door, walked in and sat down. Elizabeth Webber walked over to her. "What can I get you?" she asked smiling.  
"I'll have coffee, black, no wait, I think I'll have a glass of milk," she said as she remembered seeing somewhere that caffeine was bad for babies. "Here you go." Said Elizabeth as she came back with the milk. "Thanks," Said Alexis. She watched Elizabeth walk back over to the counter where she and Lucky started kissing. "What I wouldn't give to be young and in love like that," she said wistfully to herself.  
She drank the whole glass and decided she should go back to the penthouse and rest. So she put some money on the table and left. When she finally got back to the penthouse at 8:00 she already felt tired. So she changed her clothes and slid into bed, and almost immediately she fell asleep. 

_ "My dear Natasha, do you think that I wouldn't find out sooner or later? You must know no one can hide anything from me."  
"Leave me alone." Said a young woman with long brown hair.  
"You really did think you could keep your little secret from me didn't you?" asked Helena Cassadine amused at the possibility that anyone thought they could hide something from her and get away with it.   
"I will not let you hurt either of us."  
"Natasha, I can't let you keep it of course." _   
******************************************************************************** 

Alexis sat up in bed sweating, she knew she had had that dream again, she had been having it for the last few days. It was always the same, her and Helena arguing but she never knew what it was about. She looked at the bright red numbers on her clock. 11:30PM. She got out of bed and grabbed her robe. She walked past Zander's room and peeked in and was glad to find him fast asleep. She went downstairs to the kitchen and got a glass of water. She didn't feel like going back to sleep so she got out some of her legal books and started reading. After an hour she fell asleep. 

Alexis was awaken by knocking on the door. She pulled her robe closer to her body and then walked over and opened the door. "Emily, what time is it?" asked Alexis as she looked at the wide awake teenager.  
Emily looked at her watch. "It's about 8:00 a.m. I wanted to talk to you about something." "Sure, come in." said Alexis opening the door wider. "Is this about Zander's case, do you need anything?" she asked following her to the sofa.  
"Well, I've been thinking a lot about my future since I moved into Kelly's and I'm hoping for a scholarship to help me out with college since I don't want help from my family. I also think it would help me with law school if I had some experience so I was hoping that maybe I could be your assistant, I'll help you with research or run errands for you, anything, without pay."  
Alexis looked at her, her eyes looked full of hope and she didn't have the heart to say no. "I have been looking for an assistant, so your hired, and I will pay you for the work you do."   
"Thank you so much!" said Emily giving her a hug.  
"You're welcome, I think Zander is still upstairs so if you want to go see him go ahead."  
"I promise, I'll work really hard," Said Emily full of excited energy as she ran upstairs to tell Zander the good news.  
Alexis went upstairs to her room. She walked past Zander's room and heard him and Emily laughing. She shut her door and then walked over to her phone. She got out the phone book and looked up hospitals. There were too many people that knew her at GH and she wasn't going to take that chance. She found one just outside of town, called and then made an appointment for later in the afternoon. She then got ready for her morning run and went outside jogging towards the park. She let the wind blow over her face letting all of the stress fade from her body. But all of a sudden she ran into someone and stumbled backwards.  
"I'm sorry, I guess I didn't see you." She said looking at the big man with a leather jacket and jeans standing in front of her.  
"Don't worry Ms. Davis, running into things will be the least of your problems." Said the man. Alexis heard a noise behind her and turned around where she was facing another man. 

"What can I help you with gentlemen." Said Alexis trying to keep the nervousness from her voice.  
"We have a message from Mr. Joseph Sorel."   
"Then tell him to call my secretary." Said Alexis as she began to walk away. One of the men grabbed her arm and swung her around. She could feel his fingers pressing into her flesh and she flinched at the pain. "On second thought I don't have a secretary so what do you want?" she said dryly.   
"Mr. Sorel is not to be taken lightly. Drop the Smith kid and if you don't you won't be walking away from our next meeting, of that I can assure you. If I were you I would watch your back, you never when a gun just might go off and unfortunately hit someone." He said squeezing her lower arm even harder so that she had to bite her lip as so not to scream out in pain.  
"I have the message, you can let me go now," Said Alexis through clenched teeth. She watched as the two men walked away. As soon as they were out of sight Alexis pulled her arm from the sleeve of her jacket, rolled up her sweat shirt and looked at the horrendous bruise forming. She gingerly touched it and quickly pulled her hand away. Looking around to make sure there were no other men hiding in the bushes she jogged back to the Penthouse and tried to keep her heart from pounding out of her chest. 


	3. Three

She waited for the elevator to go up to her floor and when it opened she was greeted by Johnny. "Mr. Corinthos would like to see you right away."   
Alexis waited for Johnny to open the door and walked in. "Johnny said you wanted to see me," she said absently holding her arm.   
"Yeah, I just talked to Zander, I'm not sure it's a good idea for him to see Emily, until after the trial. We have five days left until we can put Sorel away for good and I think it would be safer if Zander didn't leave the Penthouse."   
"So you mean you don't think he should see Emily at Kelly's but she can come to the Penthouse to visit him," she said putting edge into her voice, Sonny couldn't control people's lives just because he wanted to.   
"Actually, Jason and I were talking it over and until Sorel is put away for good I want her to stay away from him."   
"Sonny, that's not going to work, even though the charges for murder will be dropped when he testifies he still has the other charges of kidnapping, and drug dealing to go against. He can still go to jail and I don't want to take any time with Emily he has away from him."   
"It's only five days, they can deal with it. When he's around Emily he gets reckless and I can't afford that, I also don't want her so involved, she could get hurt... Is something wrong with your arm?" he asked noticing she was holding it carefully.   
  
"No, not at all, I just scraped it against something, it's a little sore." "Come here, I'll put some ice on it."   
"No, that's quite alright, it doesn't hurt."   
"You just said it was sore, Alexis, come here and let me see it."   
"There's nothing to see. Granted Zander is a little reckless when it comes to Emily but it's a bad idea to keep them from each other, Emily is my new assistant so it can't be helped. I'll make sure she gets to Kelly's before dark and if necessary I'll drive her there my self so nothing happens," said Alexis preparing to leave.   
"Alexis, come here," said Sonny in a soft but demanding voice. Alexis knew she didn't really have any other choice so she walked towards him. She hated how he had that commanding tone in his voice that made you want to obey.   
"Now let me see your arm."   
Alexis took off her jacket and rolled up her sweatshirt. By now the bruise was an ugly yellow, blue and purple so she averted her gaze from it.   
Sonny saw that the bruise was clearly in the shape of a man's fingers and anger exploded inside of him, no woman deserved to be grabbed like that. "Did Ned do this? Look at me Alexis," he said barely containing the anger in his voice.   
"No I haven't talked to him yet, I was in the park and these to guys cornered me, they were just trying to intimidate me, that's all," she said lightly like it was no big deal. "What did they say?" asked Sonny, his voice deathly calm.   
"Nothing important-"   
"What did they say, Alexis?" asked Sonny again and Alexis told him everything.   
"From now on I'm going to assign you a guard, I want you to have 24 hour protection."   
"Sonny--"   
"I'm not going to take any chances, you have a child to protect now and I'm not going to let anything jeopardize that. I'll have Johnny sent over to guard your door. I want you to take him every where you go today and don't give him the slip."   
"Okay, but only until the trial is over, and Sorel is in prison," Alexis stated firmly as she walked towards the door.   
"Put some ice on that when you get into the penthouse," said Sonny pulling out his cell phone and calling Benny. 

Alexis went back to her Penthouse and sank down onto the sofa. Half an hour later she got dressed for appointment, grabbed her purse and opened the door. Standing right next to it was Johnny and she could see Francis in front of Sonny's door. She walked over the elevator and waited for it to come up while Johnny stood behind her. The elevator door opened and they both stepped in. Alexis looked nervously at Johnny. "So...how are you today?" she asked.   
"I'm fine, Ms. Davis."   
"Alexis...you can call me Alexis. So is your real name Johnny or John?" she asked curiously.   
"Jonathan."   
"I like that," she said as the elevator opened to the parking garage.   
"I can drive you to where you want to go or I can ride behind you in my car," said Johnny.   
"Uh you can ride behind me, we're going to the Port Charles baby center, on the edge of town," she watched as his usually calm and professional facade turned into one of surprise. Alexis ignored it and got into her car and shut the door. "This is so ridiculous." She said to herself as she started the car and pulled out of the garage. 

She looked into her rear view mirror and saw Johnny driving behind her.   
After driving for twenty minutes they finally got there. Alexis turned off the car and got out followed by Johnny. "Could you just stay in the car and wait?" asked Alexis.   
"I'm sorry. Ms. Davis, I'm under strict orders not to let you out of my sight."   
"Call me Alexis," she repeated. She went inside and the receptionist lead them to a nurse.   
"Is this your first child?" asked the nurse leading them down the hall on the way to the room.   
"Yes," said Alexis.   
"Well, you two look like such a sweet couple I'm sure you'll make great parents," said the nurse smiling.   
"What? No you misunderstand, he is NOT my husband," said Alexis quickly. "No offense," she said as she turned to Johnny.   
"None taken," replied Johnny as they stopped in front of an exam room   
. "I'll wait out here," said Johnny taking guard right outside the door.   
Alexis walked into the room and shut the door behind her. "While we wait for the doctor I have to ask you some questions," said the nurse grabbing a clip board. "Is this your first exam for this pregnancy?"   
"Yes, I took a home pregnancy test yesterday and it was positive."   
"Okay, have you ever been pregnant before or have you ever had a miscarriage?"   
"No, I haven't." Alexis answered a multitude of questions and then the doctor came in.   
She ran some tests and checked for a heartbeat and then she prescribed prenatal vitamins and finally for Alexis the doctor visit was all over, though she grimly reminded herself she had seven and a half more months of this she was only five and a half weeks pregnant. Alexis thanked the doctor in a state of shock and walked out of the room and Johnny awkwardly followed.   
"So, how is everything?" he asked awkwardly on the way to the parking lot.   
"Fine," said Alexis as she got to her car and got in.   
She stopped at the store and picked up some fruit, juice, and some other dinner items that looked relatively easy to make, she walked past the baby food aisle and saw all of the little jars of baby food all of a sudden it all came crashing down on her that she was really going to be a mother. She would have to go to sports games and school plays, PTO meetings, she was going to have change diapers and read bedtime stories. She had to remind herself to breath, she was 36 years old, she was to old for a child, she was set in her ways, had everything manageable and now the walls of her life were falling down around her but, surprisingly she was almost looking forward to it, she smiled the rest of the way as she drove to the penthouse. 


	4. Four

She reached the Penthouse and Johnny helped her carry the bags into the kitchen. He then checked all of the rooms to make sure nothing was out of place and then he took guard outside of her door and Alexis followed him out. "Do you want a chair to sit in or a glass of water?" she asked standing in the door way.   
"No thank you, Ms. Davis," said Johnny uncomfortably.  
"It's Alexis," she said exasperated and then she continued. "Are you sure you don't want a chair it must get really tiring, standing on your feet for hours."  
"I'm fine Ms. Dav-Alexis," he said trying to hold back a smile.  
"You can come in and sit on the sofa for a while."  
"That's not necessary," said Johnny breaking out into a smile.  
"Ok, if you change your mind-" said Alexis as she went into her apartment and shut the door. When the door was shut Johnny quietly started laughing.  
For the life of her Alexis couldn't understand why a man would want to stand by a door in a hot suit for hours at a time. She shrugged and went into the kitchen determined to make Hamburger Helper without burning anything down. 

Johnny had been standing outside for half an hour when he started to smell something horrible, like food burning, it reminded him of Carly's cooking but it was coming from Alexis' apartment. He knocked on the door but there was no answer. Slowly opening the door with his hand close to his gun he looked inside. There was smoke in the living room and he could hear swearing coming from the kitchen. Dropping his hand from the gun at his waist he slowly walked into the kitchen. Alexis was trying to cook what looked like burnt hamburger while also trying to stop a pot of water from boiling over and making instant mashed potatoes at the same time. Johnny turned off the stove and moved the pot of boiling water, where noodles were stuck to the bottom, then he got the black meat away from the stove and threw it in the garbage, her mashed potatoes were runny and looked more like grits then anything else. He looked at Alexis who looked more than embarrassed. "What were you cooking?" he asked holding back a laugh at her lack of kitchen skills.  
"Uh, hamburger helper, and those instant mash potatoes, the ones you add milk to, I think," she said looking towards the trash were the burnt hamburger rested.  
Johnny couldn't help letting a small laugh escape from his lips.   
"Alright, I'm a lawyer not a chef. What do you expect?"  
"Nothing, Ms. Davis. I'll clean this up for you," he said looking at the water the pot had left on the stove that was sizzling from the still warm stove-coils.  
"I just wanted to cook dinner for once, I don't see how that can be so hard."  
Johnny was surprised to see tears in her eyes and he figured the pregnancy was messing with her hormones or something womanish and he decided that he was going to have to have a talk with Sonny, it was easy facing down rival mobsters but a woman who was going through hormone changes was frightening. "Why don't we just make another box of hamburger helper and this time, I'll help."  
Alexis looked up at him, suddenly more embarrassed than before, if that was possible. She mentally yelled at herself for being so emotional. "Okay. What is it about you underworld figures, anyway? Is it a requirement to pass a culinary arts class or something?"  
Johnny laughed, "I have to admit I am pretty good in the kitchen. Let me just go lock the door and then we can get started."  
Fifteen minutes later Johnny and Alexis had made a fruit salad and hamburger helper without one problem.  
"That wasn't as hard as it looked," said Alexis with a satisfied grin.  
"I'm glad I could help, I should be getting back outside now."  
"What? You helped make it, you have to eat it too."  
"I have to do my job, if Sonny found out I was in here helping you cook instead of protecting you he'd have me protecting Mrs. Corinthos , which is no easy task, I might add."  
Alexis laughed as Johnny cringed at the thought. "Well you can protect me just as well sitting at the table as you can standing outside. No arguments," she said as she went back into the kitchen for another plate and silverware.  
Johnny sighed and sat down at the table his hands to his sides. Alexis came back and set the plate in front of him while carrying a pitcher of orange juice, she poured him a glass and then sat down across from him and scooped food onto her plate.  
"Can I ask you a question, Johnny?"  
"Yes, Ms. Davis."  
"Call me Alexis," she said slightly annoyed. "My question is do you have any other clothes besides those suits and ties? I don't believe I've ever seen you in normal clothing."  
Johnny laughed. "Yes, I have other clothes, they aren't worn very often but they're there when I need them."  
There was a comfortable silence and Alexis almost started laughing, here she was pregnant and having dinner with one of her Client's bodyguards and she was having a good time. A small giggle escaped her lips and she smiled as Johnny looked at her. When they were done with dinner Alexis got up to put the dishes in the kitchen.  
"Here let me do that," as said taking one of the glasses of orange juice from her.  
"No, I can do it," she said and the next thing she knew the glass fell from her hands and orange juice splattered on Johnny's chest.  
"I'm so sorry!" she said setting the dishes down as she went to get a cloth.   
"I'm really sorry, you can give me the dry cleaning bill," she said as she came back with a towel. She started wiping it off of his chest when his hand reached out for the towel and accidentally touched her hand.   
"It's alright, no harm done," he said looking away from her gaze and taking the towel from her. "I'll just go to the bathroom and clean up," he said as he got up and made his way to her bathroom. Alexis put her hand on head, she had acted like a total klutz. She was in the kitchen when she heard a knock on the door. Wiping her hands on a kitchen towel she went to answer the door but Johnny had beat her to it. Alexis noticed he had taken his jacket off but his shirt was still on although the orange juice made it stick to his skin, a fact that didn't escape her. He opened the door and Alexis was surprised to see Ned standing there. 


	5. Five

Ned looked from Johnny to Alexis and let himself in. "I'm sorry if I was...interrupting something," he said coldly and glaring at Johnny.   
"Not at all, Ned. What did you want." Alexis watched as Johnny went back to the bathroom to give them privacy.  
"I wanted to speak with you but I see you have company," he said going to leave.  
"No, until the trial Sonny wanted to take precautions so he gave me a body guard, that's all," said Alexis walking over to him.  
"Oh I see how it goes now. In exchange for you defending his every crime, which there seems to be a long line of, Sonny lets you take his goons home to play with every now and then, is that it?" he asked and Alexis flinched.  
"Get out, Ned and don't you ever come back here. If you have something to discuss with me then I suggest you write me a letter, mail it, and I will be sure to get back with you when I find time. Get out!" she said angrily slamming the door behind him and leaning against it.  
"Is every thing alright?" asked Johnny coming out of the bathroom.  
"Yes, everything is fine."  
"My shift ends soon so I'll see you tomorrow, Alexis. Thanks for dinner."  
"I should be thanking you, you stopped my kitchen from burning down."  
He smiled and then he too left. Alexis went up to her bed and closed the door. It wasn't very late but she felt exhausted. She layed down and drifted off to sleep. She vaguely remembered hearing the door open and shut as Zander came home and then she fell into a deep sleep.

*********************************************************** _   
"Helena, please, I'm begging you, don't take it away from me, please."  
"Natasha, don't you realize that Cassadine's don't beg, it's so... unbecoming," said Helena her voice soft like silk.  
Alexis stood holding her bulging stomach protectively. "Why do you keep calling me Natasha? My name is Alexis."  
"Oh, it won't matter what I call you because after that... thing is born I will make sure you don't remember anything."  
"I will kill you before I let you take my baby from me." She said her voice a mixture of fear and determination.  
"My Darling, that...child you carry is a bastard, how can I let you taint your father's blood even more than you have? You will stay here until you give birth and then your child will be killed."  
"I won't let you, if you kill my baby you have to kill me too," said Alexis defiantly.  
"Well, we will just have to wait and see if it comes to that."  
_ ************************************************************* 

Alexis woke up again her breathing heavy and sweat on forehead. Her dream...no nightmare had seemed so real, so real it frightened her. She sat in her bed oblivious to the passing of time. Her arms were wrapped around her stomach as she rocked back and forth. "It's impossible, maybe my sub-conscious is just trying to tell me that Helena won't be very happy about my baby but I couldn't have been, I wasn't pregnant before. I would know, I would feel it," she said trying to convince herself. Finally she drifted off to a fitful sleep. 

Alexis woke up, got dressed, went downstairs and got a glass of orange juice and decided to make breakfast. She pulled out a pan, sat it on the stove, got in the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of eggs. She cracked a couple and blended them in a bowl before she put them in the hot pan. As the eggs hit the pan they sizzled and Alexis watched as they started to cook. Taking a spatula she moved the eggs around in the pan and soon they were fluffy and yellow. She scooped them up onto two different plates added a pinch of salt and pepper and put them on the plate warmer. She then started on the bacon, a while later she scooped the slightly crispy bacon on to the two plates and toast soon followed. She was pleasantly surprised that there were only a few brown pieces of egg that had been slightly over done and the bacon didn't look all that bad. She smiled as she thought of the night before when Johnny had given her some quick tips while they cooked dinner.  
Alexis sat the food on the table and then went upstairs to wake Zander. She knocked on the door and when he didn't answer she opened the door. He was laying on the bed sleeping and Alexis smiled at the thin line of drool coming out of the corner of his mouth. "Zander, wake up before breakfast gets cold."  
"Yes, Mom," he said still asleep.  
Alexis froze, she didn't know why but the words hit her like a ton of bricks. She swallowed a lump in her throat and shook his shoulder again. "Zander, it's time to wake up, breakfast is getting cold." This time he responded and sat up.   
"Breakfast is down stairs," she said walking down stairs and back to the dining room. A few minutes later he followed.  
Alexis watched as he sat down across from her. "This looks great," He said grabbing the fork and stuffing some eggs in his mouth.  
"Thanks, I made it myself." She said smiling. She watched as he instantly chewed slower, and carefully swallowed. "I don't know whether to be happy you finally cooked something or scared." He said as he mockingly sifted through his eggs looking for shell fragments.  
"I'll have you know my cooking is rather good for a first timer if I do say so myself." She said smiling. When they were done eating Emily came over to start working.  
She watched as Zander and Emily kissed and said hello to each other, she noticed they both lit up just being around each other. "Okay Emily, I have a really hard case and I want you to look through these books and see if you can find any cases dealing with psychologist/patient confidentiality." Alexis realized that soon she would probably drop the rest of her clients, excluding Sonny of course so that she could take time to prepare for her up coming motherhood.  
"Okay, I'll get right on it." Said Emily as she sat down and began looking through Alexis' law books.  
She heard a knock on the door and answered. Johnny was standing there with a box under his arm. "This was delivered for you, I had to search it and it's safe" he said as he sat it down on the floor and prepared to walk out. 

Carly Corinthos had come into work early, her and Sonny's relationship was becoming strained. She loved him with all of her heart but he never opened up to her, it was like he didn't trust her. Laura and Elton hadn't come in for the day yet and for that she was relieved. She walked into her office and prepared to make plans for the campaign she was secretly launching with Gia as the model. She yawned and looked around her office. She noticed a box sitting in the corner that hadn't been there the night before. She curiously walked over to it and opened it up. She froze as she saw an assortment of wires and in bright red the number thirty that kept going down and down and she knew when it got to zero it would explode. Not knowing what else to do she ran from the office as fast as she could. She pounded on the elevator button and then the door begging, pleading with it to open. Tears ran down her face as she had one last vision of her handsome dark-eyed husband and her red-headed little boy and then everything went black. 


	6. Six

Alexis bent over to pick up the box when she heard a horrific noise and a small tremor was sent through the building.   
"What was that?" asked Emily as she walked towards the window that over looked the city.   
Alexis watched as a big dust cloud rose up in the sky and all of a sudden she realized where it looked like it was coming from and apparently so did Johnny. He ran out of the room and Alexis knew why, she looked out in shock as the building that held Carly and Laura's Deception offices was on fire and hidden in a haze of dust, she knew there had been a bomb. Before she knew what she was doing she grabbed her coat and ran out of the room after him.   
Just as she was coming out of the apartment so was Sonny. She looked at his face, his skin was pale and his eyes looked haunted. "Carly went into work early today, we-we had an argument." he mumbled as they all stood in the elevator. "I know she wasn't in the building, she was taking a break, or at the hospital talking to Bobby, I know she was she had to be. Maybe she's having breakfast at Kelly's"  
"I'm sure she wasn't in the building," said Alexis with more confidence than she felt. Johnny and Alexis got in her car and followed Sonny's limo through the hectic streets of Port Charles.  
When they got close to the building it made Alexis' blood run cold. There was a gigantic hole in the side of the building and firemen tried to put out the fire that erupted with their hoses of water. She hoped to God that Carly wasn't in there. She got out of her car and went after Sonny who was going towards Taggert. 

"Carly wasn't in there, right," Said Sonny, more a statement than a question.  
Taggert looked at Sonny's face and for once he felt a small wave of pity for the mob boss but it soon disappeared. "I just got here, I have my people interviewing witnesses and the people who got out of the building. I'll let you know as soon as we hear something." He said walking away.  
Alexis put her arm around him. "Come on, let's sit in the car until they find something out." "No, I'm staying here until Carly comes back from her breakfast. She'll be really relieved she wasn't in there, she'll want to see me and Michael, to make sure we're okay and that we aren't uh worried," he said rubbing his hand over his face.  
"Okay," said Alexis softly. She looked back up at the building, the firemen were trying to get the fire under control and she saw more firemen helping people out of the building. "I have to go in and find Mrs. Corinthos, keep an eye on Sonny," Said Johnny as he took his jacket off.  
"You can't go in there, it's unstable, it's on fire for God's sake," Alexis reasoned but she could see nothing she said would dissuade him.  
"It's my job to protect Mr. and Mrs. Corinthos. I'll be back." He stopped and looked at her and Alexis got the feeling he might want to say something else but he didn't. She watched as he snuck past everyone and into the building and how he did it without getting caught was beyond her. She hoped for Sonny's sake that he found Carly alive.  
Twenty minutes later Lieutenant Marcus Taggert approached Sonny Corinthos. "Several Witness saw Carly go in about ten minutes before the bomb went off, no one rescued yet has matched her description. and the building is not stable enough for us to go up on the upper floors and look for her yet."  
Sonny started talking like he hadn't heard a word Taggert said. "I bet she went to go pick Michael up for preschool early, she probably wanted to spend the whole day with him so she got him out of school and they're at the park on the swings. Get my driver, we're going to get Carly and Michael at the park," he said heading towards his limo.  
Taggert looked at Sonny like he was loosing it while Alexis went after him. "Sonny, Sonny wait," she said as she caught up with him. "Why don't we just wait here for Carly and Michael, she knows that you would be here waiting for her okay? Just wait here." Sonny leaned against the side of the car looking like he had lost his best friend. Alexis walked over to one of his guards, "I want you to call Michael's school and see if he is there."   
"Yes, Ms. Davis." He said pulling out his cell-phone and dialing the number. Alexis waited until he hung up. "Michael is in class. I had them go to his class room and make sure."   
"Okay, thank you," Alexis said as she stood waiting. Forty minutes later Alexis saw Johnny sneak out of the building. He had soot covering his body and Alexis realized he didn't have Carly with him. She grabbed a bottle of water walked over him not wanting Sonny to hear any bad news yet if there was any. Watching as he took the water pouring half over his face and drinking the rest she patiently waited for anything he could tell her.  
"I got to Carly's floor. That hole up there," he said pointing. "is where her office was. I got up there and didn't see anything. I had to throw debris out of the doorway to Laura Spencer's office but it was empty. I pulled debris off of the floor looking for Mrs. Corinthos but there were small fires in some places and I didn't find anything but this," He said reaching into his shirt and pulling out the burnt remains of what looked like a purse.  
"Sonny, is really upset, he keeps on insisting Carly and Michael are at the park." "I'll call Michael's school to see if he's there or not-"  
"I already did, he's safe and sound in the classroom. Taggert says several witnesses saw Carly come in ten minutes before the explosion."  
"Damn." She heard him say under his breathe. "I guess all we can do now is wait." 

Several hours after the explosion people were dispersing. Everyone was accounted for except one woman, Carly Corinthos. Three people had been killed, twenty-seven injured and everyone else walked out just fine. Everyone was thankful it had happened in the morning and not in the afternoon when the building would have been full of people. Alexis watched as Taggert approached them again.  
"I'm sorry but we just got done searching the Deception floor and there's no sign of a body, my experts say it would be impossible to survive if she was in her office, like we believe she was, at the time of the explosion, It wasn't a very big explosion, some plaster through the rest of the building has fallen down but the area above and below Carly's office was pretty bad, I'm uh sorry for your loss."  
"You aren't saying she's dead! You said you didn't find a body! SHE WAS NOT THERE!" said Sonny grabbing Taggart by the cuff of his shirt. "She's not DEAD!" he yelled. Johnny and Francis pulled him away from Taggart as Sonny sunk to the ground. "She's not dead, not like Lily, or Brenda, she made it, she wouldn't leave me."  
For the first time in her life she saw Sonny Corinthos totally breakdown. Alexis was at a loss for words as she watched as sobs racked his body. Trying to hold back tears she crouched down next to him. "Let's just go back to the Penthouse, we can wait there and maybe there will be some new information," she said putting her arm around him.  
"Get away from me!" he said with venom pushing her away and she fell backwards landing on her butt. "Take me back to the Penthouse. Now!" he said standing up and stomping over to the limo, throwing the door open and getting inside as everyone watched shocked. Francis soon followed and then his other guards also got into the limo. A few tears that she couldn't hold back fell down her cheeks. She knew he was grieving and she couldn't take it personally but it still hurt.  
"He didn't mean it, he's just upset right now, I'll take you home," said Johnny from behind her as he put his hands on her shoulders.  
Alexis didn't even know he had stayed behind, she quickly wiped the tears away with the back of her hand. "Do you think we could go somewhere, I don't want to go back to the Penthouse yet."  
"Sure, where do you want to go?"  
"Do you think we could go to that little restaurant down the street from Luke's for lunch, I just need to get away for awhile."  
"Sure, do you mind if we stop by my place so I can take a quick shower and change, it'll only take 10 minutes.  
"Sure." Said Alexis getting in the passenger seat of her car and handing him the key's so he could drive. 


	7. Seven

She looked out of the window at the bright sun over head. It seemed so much later in the day than...she looked at her watch...three-thirty, it seemed that lifetimes had passed since that morning. She layed her head back against the head rest and closed her eyes, all she could see was the pained expression on Sonny's face. She wanted to go back to the Penthouse to make sure he was okay but she didn't think she could do anything for him, he was lost in the darkness and he had to find his own way back, she was his friend but she couldn't do that for him. She watched as trees, houses and people, and businesses passed by, the world seemed so normal, so safe, but it wasn't. She placed her hands on her stomach, how could she bring a child into a world that was so unsafe?   
They pulled into a small driveway and Alexis looked at the small house in front of her. It was painted light yellow and it looked very homey, on each side of the walk way she could see flowers beginning to sprout as they pushed through the soil. Johnny opened the door and got out and she soon followed. He grabbed a key, inserted it into the lock and opened the door. Alexis walked in behind him and was surprised the place looked so lived in. There was a big white couch that looked like you could sink into it and be lost for days at time. A beautiful wooden table sat in front of it and a gigantic fireplace that had throw-pillows laying in front of it rested in a corner.   
Alexis looked around in surprise, she had expected it to look more like Sonny's penthouse, dark and almost brooding. "Can I get you something to drink?" he asked.   
"Sure, water would be fine," she replied as she walked towards the couch and Johnny left the room. Alexis was drawn to an array of pictures on the mantle and went over to look at them. They were all of Johnny, he was younger and in every picture he was with a pretty, smiling, blonde woman. Johnny walked in and caught her staring at the pictures.   
"Is that your girlfriend or wife?" she asked accepting the glass and sitting down.   
"No, I really don't have time for a personal life now-a-days. That's my sister."   
"Does she live here with you?" asked Alexis curiously that would definitely explain why the house was so different from her expectations.   
"She did once." He stopped, debating with himself on whether to go on. "We were really close, she had this boyfriend who got her into selling drugs, she got hooked and started taking the drugs she was suppost to be selling. Her boyfriend's boss got mad and she got killed. I will never forgive Sorel for killing my sister," he said looking at the picture and touching his sister's face. "I really miss her."   
"I'm sorry about your sister," said Alexis squeezing his hand comfortingly   
. "It's alright, it happened a long time ago. I'm going to go take that shower now," he said leaving the room.   
Alexis let herself relax for a minute but thoughts drifted around in her head anyway. She thought of Carly, they didn't get along but she had admired her anyway, she had a family and she was in love, she hardly ever backed down and never gave up until she got her way. She remembered with a smile how had run off to that island and waited until Sonny showed up and married her. The enormity of it all, that she would never get to know Carly better and that Sonny would have to live without seeing her and holding her and having that love from Carly, made Alexis feel sorry for him. She didn't even realize she had tears in her eyes until they spilled down onto her cheeks. Wiping her face she layed back and soon fell asleep. 

Johnny came out of his room fully dressed and walked over to the couch. He found Alexis sleeping and want to the mantle. Grabbing one of the pictures of him and his sister, Melanie, he sat down beside the sleeping Alexis. He looked at her sparkling green eyes and her honey colored hair. She was smiling into the camera with her arm around his shoulders. He could still remember when he found her dead, seven years ago. 

................................................................................................................   
_ "Melanie? Lanie?" he asked as he came home from where he worked at the docks. Without receiving an answer he started to get worried. She was always home when he got home, outside gardening or drawing, every day after he got there after work they would spend an hour together and then she would get ready to go on a date with that creep. He walked to her room and glancing inside saw that she was laying in bed. She had been tired these last few days so he went into her room to drape a blanket over her, that's when he saw that her eyes were open but unseeing as they stared towards the ceiling. He ran to her and cradled her head as it held limply from her neck. He could feel the coldness of her body but he refused to believe the sister that had been a mother to him, and a friend, was gone. He started to do CPR but nothing worked. He had sat there for an hour breathing for her and pressing her chest but her eyes stayed wide open and her chest never rose or fell by itself. He called an ambulance and they pronounced her dead.   
………………………………………………………………………. _

After that he kept her garden for her, always planting and weeding because it made him feel close to her. Her room was just as she left it but the door remained locked and that's the way he intended to keep it.   
He looked over and watched as Alexis layed there breathing in and out. Brushing a strand of her hair away from her forehead he got up and went to the kitchen. Since it didn't look like she would be waking up anytime soon he decided to make her dinner. 


	8. Eight

Alexis woke up three hours later and looked around at her surroundings. For a moment she thought that maybe it had all been a horrible nightmare and that she had woken up and she would see that everything was fine, that everything was okay. Glancing around she realized she wasn't at home, but in Johnny's living room and everything came back to her. Sitting up she looked at the clock on the TV and it read 6:47PM. She got up and realized that she was starving, she hadn't eaten since that morning. She felt guilty, she was eating for two now, she couldn't afford to forget. As if in sync with her feelings she smelled the lovely aroma of food and her mouth began to water. Following her nose she walked to the nearest door, opening it slowly she looked in and saw Johnny sitting at a table reading the newspaper. He looked up and smiled, "Hey sleepyhead." "I didn't realize I was so tired, have you heard from Sonny yet?"   
"Yeah, I talked to Francis he says that Sonny has locked himself in the Penthouse and won't let anyone in. He and Carly had an argument just before she left this morning. I guess it has really shaken him up that she could have died angry at him."  
Fresh tears sprang to Alexis' eyes at the thought of Sonny's torment, all of his fears were coming true, he was unable to protect Carly and she knew what that must be doing to him, how helpless he must feel. She couldn't think about that right now, Sonny was her friend and she wanted to be there for him but she had a baby to think about and she had to eat first. "I just noticed that you are wearing normal clothes," she said trying to get her mind off of Carly's death as she looked at the sweater and khakis that Johnny was wearing.  
"Yeah, well I figured while you were sleeping I should get comfortable, I called Zander and let him know what happened and that you were alright."  
"Thank you," said Alexis taking the seat across from him.  
"I know you wanted to go to that restaurant but I made a little something for you to eat."  
"That would be wonderful, I don't think I have the energy to see a lot of people tonight, what did you make?"  
"Fettichini Alfredo, salad, and fresh baked bread. You aren't going to have some weird craving like pudding on your salad or something?" he asked smiling as he pulled it out of the oven and sat it on the table.  
"I hope not," she said laughing, it was adorable how nervous Johnny was when it came to her baby, "thankfully morning sickness hasn't hit me yet." As weird as it was having a bodyguard, Johnny was surprisingly easy to talk to, he was like Sonny in that way, except that he didn't have that egotistical 'I'm always right' air about him.   
"You know, I am terrified of having a child, my childhood wasn't exactly all slumber parties and ballet recitals, and being a Cassadine didn't make it any easy."  
"Yeah I've heard about some of the things the Cassadines have done, your brother faked his own death right?" he said as he pulled the salad out of the refrigerator.   
"Yes, Stefan, my half brother, all with this twisted plan to get back at my step-mother, Helena. This is delicious," she said as she bit into the warm buttered bread.  
"My sister's recipe. So do you think you're going to have a son or a daughter?"  
"I haven't really thought about it, but now that you mention it, I think I would like to have a girl. Do you ever plan to have children?"  
"No, not with my line of work anyway, maybe someday though, if I find that right person, I don't really have time to go out and socialize."  
"You'll find her someday."  
"I hope so." 

They finished with the meal and Alexis helped him load the dishwasher. "Do you think we can go back to the Penthouse now? I want to check on Sonny."  
"Sure. Maybe you can find a way to help him."  
Johnny drove to the penthouse and the elevator ride up was silent. Alexis left the elevator and headed towards Sonny's door but something caught her eye. Turning around she saw Ned sitting beside her door with his head in his hands.   
"Ned, what are you doing here?" asked Alexis walking over to him.  
"Alexis! Thank God that you are okay," said Ned giving her a tight hug.  
"Of course I'm okay, why wouldn't I be?" asked Alexis.  
"I heard about the bombing and Sonny financed Deception and I thought maybe you had been there, this is what Sonny does, Alexis, he gets people blown up."  
"Ned...Carly is dead, have some compassion for Sonny, he lost his wife and Michael lost a mother. This isn't the time to go on a tirade about Sonny's life and frankly Idon't want to hear it." "You're right, I'm sorry, but it doesn't change the fact that Sonny is bad news."  
Alexis sighed, no matter what happened Ned was never going to change.  
"Do you want to come in? We have to talk about something," said Alexis opening the door to the penthouse and walking in. She tried to build up her courage, it was the right thing, to tell Ned, he had Brooke Lynn and he was wonderful father, he'd treat any child of his as it deserved to be treated. He would love to have a son.  
"I'm sorry about yesterday, I didn't mean what I said. I just don't want you to be any more a part of Sonny's life that you already are and I guess when I saw that you had a bodygaurd it got to me. I worry about you Alexis."  
"I know you do, but Sonny is my friend, he's part of my life and you have to understand that." "I'll try, I promise."  
Alexis took a deep breath. "Ned I have something to tell you."  
"What?" asked Ned sitting down and looking at her intently. 


	9. Nine

"We're...-I'm going to have a...a baby. I'm pregnant," she said watching his reaction. 'Breathe, Alexis, just remember to breathe' she said silently to herself.   
Suddenly he got up and hugged tightly. "This is wonderful," he whispered into her hair, his voice thick with emotion.   
He pulled back and looked into her eyes with a smile, he held her face in his hands and kissed her.   
Alexis was surprised but she let herself melt into the kiss, feeling safe and warm. She wrapped her arms around him and ached for the comfort that his arms provided.   
He pulled away and hugged her again. "I can't believe it, we're going to be parents, together. I love you so much," he whispered into her hair.   
Alexis wiped her eyes, where tears threatened to fall, this was the worst part, breaking his heart. "Ned," she said slowly, "we can't just stay together for a child."   
"Of course not, we'll stay together because we love each other."   
"I-I'm not so sure that's a good idea, I was thinking about joint custody."   
"Are you crazy? Alexis, I love you, I want to marry you and raise this child...our child... together."   
"That's not what I want, not right now, Ned." she moved away from him and started to pace, this was so hard.   
"We've grown apart, you don't like my work...my devotion to it anyway...but it's part of my life and I just can't give it up. If we get back together we are going to fight about my working schedule, because I'm going to work up until this baby is born and even afterwards, I'm dropping some clients and hiring some help but I'm still going to work and I know you aren't going to want that, you are going to try to make me drop Sonny and when I don't we are going to fight and I don't need that."   
"What about being a single parent? Do you need that? I love you and this baby and we all belong together, as a family."   
"Not right now, I--" she was going to say 'love you too' but the words wouldn't come out, "-maybe in a few months or after this baby is born we can try to resolve things and figure out our relationship, but I just…I can't do that right now. You can come with me to all my appointments and everything, I really do want you to be a part of this pregnancy."   
"It's because of him, isn't it?" asked Ned angrily.   
"Sonny has nothing to do with this, he thought I should tell you and he thought we should work it out."   
"I'm not talking about him, I'm talking about that baboon of his, the one you were having dinner with."   
Alexis sighed, this was ridiculous, "Johnny is just my bodyguard and this is not about him, why would it be?"   
"Well, you think about that," said Ned as he left and slammed the door.   
Alexis just stared at the door. It had gone just about as she expected. She sat down on the couch and sighed, laying her back. She was roused by a knock on the door so sighing again she got up and opened it.   
"Mr. Cassadine-," said Johnny trying to restrain Stefan.   
"Alexis, this is of dire importance, it's about Nikolas," said Stefan as he let himself into the Penthouse.   
"Thanks, Johnny, it's all right," said Alexis closing the door.   
"Nikolas has decided to go back to the family. He'll listen to you, we must get through to him."   
"You have to be joking, I helped Nikolas with the papers to renounce the family-."   
"I know this already, but something is not right, we must go talk to him."   
"You don't think Helena has done something to him?"   
"I don't know but we must get to the bottom of this."   
"Stefan…" she said about to tell him no but then she saw the worry on his face. "Okay, I'll get my coat, let's go." Alexis grabbed her coat. On the way out she quickly told Johnny where she was going so he could follow and they went to Nikolas' cottage. When they got there Alexis saw Gia storm out of the house with a box in her arms and she threw it into a car.   
"Gia, are you okay?" Alexis asked as Gia spun around with fury in her eyes.   
"Oh I'm fine, so much better than I was wasting my time with that stuck up asshole. If I were you I wouldn't waste my time on that damn prince of nothing," she said getting in the car and slamming the door so loud Alexis almost jumped. She and Stefan shared a look and then walked up the stairs. Alexis knocked on the open door and peaked in. He was leaning against a table with his head down. "I'll get some one to take the rest of your things to the hotel," said Nikolas.   
"Nikolas, it's me. Are you okay?" she questioned as she walked into the living room.   
He looked up and saw her and Stefan and his face twisted in a snarl. "Let me guess, my _ dear _ Uncle told you I was going back to the family and you want to save me from my evil grandmother, too late. It's where I belong."   
"Nikolas, you know that's not true, is Helena holding something over your head? Is she threatening Lucky to make you go back?"   
"There you go again, Alexis!" he said his voice rising as he threw his arms in the air. "You always assume the worst, I don't know why I expect my grandfather's bastard daughter to know any better."   
Alexis couldn't help her sharp intake of breath as the words registered in her head. "Nikolas, what did Helena do to you? Did she threaten Gia, is that why Gia left?" she pressed forward.   
"NOTHING!" he yelled.   
"Nikolas," rang Stefan's strong imposing voice. "You were not raised this way. I command you to stop this insanity at once!"   
"Yes, Uncle I wasn't raised this way and I'm worse off for it, you taught me to hate Helena when she did nothing to me, she is my family, I don't need misfits like you two."   
Alexis desperately wanted the old Nikolas back so she tried to forget his harsh words and smiled, desperately trying to hold onto the nephew she new . "Nikolas guess what, you are going to have a new cousin in a couple of months, I'm pregnant," she said trying desperately to see the old Nikolas, the one she loved, in his eyes. For a moment she saw the old Nikolas in his eyes but it was quickly replaced with something like annoyance.   
"Alexis, Alexis, you yourself was raised a bastard, obviously your offspring will suffer the same fate," he said in a biting cold voice.   
For a moment Alexis didn't even realize he had said it, it was something Helena would have said, not Nikolas, he couldn't hurt her like that.   
"Maybe some terrible accident will befall you and history will repeat itself and your child will end up being raised with us, in the family."   
"Over my dead body." Alexis had to stop herself from crying out at the harsh insensitive words. She ran outside to Stefan's car but she couldn't wait that long, she wanted to leave, now. It was dark outside but she saw Johnny's car parked down the drive and she practically ran to it.   
"Please take me home." Were the only words that would leave her mouth. He obeyed wordlessly as a tear made it's way from the corner of her eye. After Stefan had left if either one of them had come back minutes later they would have found Nikolas collapsing on the sofa in sobs. 


End file.
